Practicing Philosophy Today

About Us

Statement

The fulltime faculty of the UNC Charlotte Philosophy Department affirms the philosophical importance of different standpoints, social identities, and experiences for investigating and producing knowledge. In this way, we stand with the American Philosophical Association (APA) in seeking to create a more inclusive discipline, with American philosopher John Dewey’s (1917) claim that philosophy should be a method for addressing problems in people’s lives, and with UNC Charlotte’s valuing of the presence in the university of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ideas (http://diversity.uncc.edu/diversity-plan). We are committed to fostering classroom and campus environments where genuine learning and critical dialogue can take place, where questions central to the humanities can be passionately pursued by students from all backgrounds, and where pressing social, political, ethical and cultural issues will be addressed and studied so that we can contribute to the welfare of our city, state, and global community. We welcome and support the rights of students regardless of their views to study in an environment that sometimes might be personally challenging but that always is respectful and free of bullying and harassment.

For these reasons, we are committed to the robust inclusion and the epistemic and existential partnership of people who historically have been and often still are excluded from philosophical discourse: lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transgender, and gender-nonconforming persons; communities of color; American Indian and other indigenous communities across the globe; homeless people and those living in poverty; immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers regardless of status; persons living with mental and physical disabilities; women of all races and classes/castes; religious minorities; older adults; persons dealing with the consequences of violence; and all other vulnerable populations. Philosophical knowledge is incomplete and inadequate if it does not engage with and include these standpoints.

We recognize that discrimination, exploitation, and marginalization of vulnerable populations can interfere with students’ freedom to study philosophy in particular and to study at the university more generally. Through our teaching, research, and service, we thus strive to remove impediments to academic learning and to help students become full participants in democratic society. In this way, we contribute to UNC Charlotte’s mission as an urban research university to address the cultural, economic, educational, environmental, health, and social needs of the greater Charlotte region (http://www.uncc.edu/landing/about-us). We are opposed to racism; white supremacy; sexism; Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and other forms of religious prejudice; unfair treatment of LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming people; entrenched poverty; and other structures of harm, sometimes visible, sometimes hidden, that affect the lives of many students, faculty, staff, administrators, and graduates of UNC Charlotte.